Studio/ Guest Room

I am so excited!! I have company coming in on Thursday and they are staying in the Studio! It’s the 2nd biggest bedroom and they won’t be as crowded as they would be if they stayed in the room that we usually reserved for guests. Granted this room doesn’t have a TV, so the other room is better for TV viewing.

This room is over the garage, hence the funky ceiling. It also gets extremely cold in the winter and hot in the summer. As you’ll see the A/C unit in the window and the space heater on the table.

Inspiration Board is a work in progress. And a wonderful place to put things I don’t want to lose. No, that’s not my guitar or keyboard. My son has taken a real interest in music over the last few years and this is his first guitar. I’m pretty musically inept, but love to belt out a Song or two as I sing along with my mp3 player. (much to my family’s chagrin….geez I really don’t get that)

My modest fabric Stash! You really ought to see my mother in laws!!! M.A.G.N.I.F.I.C.E.N.T., to say the least!

To the right of the dresser is my Current project. I’ll be appliquéing the flower petals and leaves to a tan pieced background. More later when I finish.

Some of my absolute favorite pictures of Family. The wonders of digital and scanning in old pics lets me have brand new pictures for just 19 cents from Walgreens. (If I really had my act together, I’d upload about 50 favorites and have snapfish print them for just 9 cents a piece.)……But that’s if I had my act together!!

I have had this rack for about 5 years. I had bought two at the time for only about 6 bucks each. I hung the first one right away in my bathroom. I have almost given this one to Goodwill about 3 times, but something inside said, “Wait, you may wish you had it someday”. And now, It’s someday....It’s a perfect spot for those dropper paints I told you about in this post.

I covered one of those big body length pillows about ten years ago with that striped fabric you see on the closer bed. Then my dear grandmother gave me a quilt she no longer uses that she had embroidered herself! I use what I love and I love this, however, so did the dog and the kids, so now there are tears to more than a few stitches and ink marks! Ah, well…..what can I say?? I’m so happy with those Deka Curtain wires from Ikea. I can now put all kinds of fun stuff up. And Look, that same dog has made her way into the picture. Good thing she’s on the floor, huh?

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share with you! Posting this here really helped motivate me to get this done! Pictures are clickable (become larger upon clicking them), if you want a better look. - Eden

Word Art

I got these letters last week at Hobby Lobby, I liked the cool font and hey, they were white!! What better color to embellish than white? So…. off I went to doodle them up. I was a little unsure how the finish would take with the paints I used. But it worked really well. Next time I’d probably lightly sand the letters prior to starting. Just so the ink has something to hold on to.

Oh- and these were 50% off last week! Gotta love a sale!

Below are the inks I used! I really like the dropper inks, I have a couple pearlescent ones (blue and green), which makes a pretty cool effect once dry.

So, I finished the A on Sunday, then on Monday I did the R, rolling right along I thought I’d be all done on Tuesday, with the T until……….

Dropper Danger!

The little blue dropper had a clot in it…..and not thinking I just continued to squeeze that little dropper until…..S.P.L.A.T…..

I tried to wipe it off!!! What was I thinking???

Instead of throwing the letter away, I just painted the bad end with white paint x 3 and thankfully finished up my T today! I’m now proudly displaying them in my Studio (you know, my college son’s room that I’m imposing on). Simple and Fun!!

I know this word isn’t all that original! I could’ve done my 2010 word for the year, if I had one picked out yet. I’m giving myself the entire month of january to decide.

I’d love to see what you make for yourselves! Actually I challenge you to show me what you’ve made for yourself and displayed. I will stop by if you leave me a link!!

Thanks for stopping by, Eden

Just a peek…..

Here’s a little peek of something I was working on this weekend! It’s almost done. I can’t wait to show you. I’m going to put it in my “studio” (a.k.a. my son’s room that I’m imposing on).

I thing I’ve realized something about Art/Artists. I am not really in that category, but I get so fired up when I can decorate with my “art”. When I can make a piece and display it somewhere where I can see it. Growing up and into early adulthood, I never made anything for myself. I’d always make things for others, give them away and not have something that I enjoyed to look at. I usually made things that I’d want for myself (who knows what the recipient wanted!!) Usually I’d have a reason for the gift, so it wasn’t like I didn’t give any thought to the gifts. Then if I made something for myself, it was small and simple. Kind of neutral, I didn’t want to make any bold statements in decorating or displaying. I mean what if it wasn’t appealing to my family? What if what I make falls apart? Or I outgrew the trend? But now that I’m indulging in this other side to my life, I find I want to make things for me, all the time. I want to show my personality in my creations. I also like the way things can be changed as you go, when I am responsible for the colors or the prints. I like that I have more options available to me if I just picked up some paint, or bought some cool fabric.

I think we “artsy” people need to surround ourselves with things that we love! Things that inspire our personal creativity. I think it’s like a pet and it needs to be fed. Visually fed that is! And it needs to be visually nurtured! Yes, it’s risky because it’ll cost some money in supplies or items that make us happy! It’s a little about opening up and expressing myself too! But when it clicks and things in the studio or in my surroundings take shape (even if it has a bit of wackiness), then it’s worth it! At least to me! And so far, DH (dear husband) hasn’t complained! Whew! Maybe that’s what I was afraid of!!

How about you? Do you display your art for yourself? What’s your experience with the people you live with?

Cardinal Embroidery

Do you remember my son (the one i’m imposing on, by taking over his bedroom while he’s at college). Well, he joined a Fraternity his Freshman year, he’s a Junior now. Apparently the Fraternity was trying to turn itself around and it’s ‘07 mission statement was the “Healthy Rounded Man (or something like that) Fraternity”. You had to be there when he said these words to us, i was so biting my lip to stop from giggling. Apparently they had to purge the bad (party) kids, and get good kids, then make some money thru charities to support themselves or this Frat was going to get axed from the school.

They started to get involved in some local charity events, they participated in the Greek intramurals and have even done carpentry/House maintenance on their condemned Frat house (which no one lives in, thankfully). Each year they have a Charity event for gaining funds for their fraternity. Usually he tells me a week in advance and wants me to whip up something to auction off. Sure no problem…eh-huh!! The first year I donated a bunch of fleece hats made with the school fleece, similar to the one below.

The following year I made pillow cases like these below.

I’ve always told him I could make something better if he just gave me more NOTICE! This year he blew me away. He told me at Thanksgiving that he’d like me to make something for the April Auction. That’s one, two, thr… FIVE months in advance. Well, with Christmas and the holidays I didn’t get a chance to work on a thing. I had an idea though!! I wanted to hand embroider his mascot then make a small quilt, like a wall hanging or lap quilt to auction off.

Here’s what I have so far.

My material, look closely the red and the yellow have a little branching pattern that I thought would give it some texture.

I don’t know what I’d do without my DMC floss! Works great when trying to match up colors. Much better than spools of thread and cheaper too!!

Finished this today! Yeah! Now, I’ve gotta go over and browse some flickr quilting groups for inspiration. I want the Cardinal as the main focus and work around him. These weren’t hard to make, I may have to do another cardinal or two.

Off for inspiration! Thanks for stopping by :)

Eden

Twenty-Ten

I follow Christine Kane’s blog and I love the idea of picking a word for the year, instead of making New Year’s Resolutions! I mean really, how long do we really keep our resolutions? I also, would make the resolutions so darn strict and set myself up for relapse and failure.

Last year I picked Start for my word. I think that word really kicked me into gear in lots of ways:

• I started blogging more
• I started following other blogs thru my dashboard on blogger
• I started Commenting more
• I started Art Journaling, drawing, attempting new creative outlets. Like crotcheting, painting, and doodling.
• I started to post my pics/art on Flickr
• I started making my house the way i wanted it.
• I started to jump rope at the gym on the days I did the elliptical or weight trained.
• I started burning Dennis Prager CD’s for my 95 yr old Grandmother
• I started to eat better; more high fiber and low carb meals
• I started to facebook (still don’t really care for that too much), but wonderful way to connect with old friends.
• I started to realize I didn’t have to be perfect to live the way i wanted

Well, it’s New Years Day and I am not sure what word I’m going to pick! I have a couple ideas. I may have to revisit Christine’s list for prompts. I’ll pick one or two soon. I just want my word to be able to seep into more of my life. I want it to be able to hold up to the Spiritual, Physical, Mental, Creative and restless sides of me. I want it to give me Hope and Passion and Growth. Change is good and inevitable might as well self-direct a little of it.

What are your New Years traditions??? Do you pick a word too?

Thanks for stopping by and here’s to a great 2010!

Eden